Brother of the Resurrection Lawrence

Born Nicolas Herman in Lorraine, France, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection was a 17th-century French lay brother in the Discalced Carmelite community in Paris. His early life was marked by poverty, limited schooling, military service during the Thirty Years’ War, and an injury that left him lame.

As a young man, he described a moment of spiritual awakening while looking at a winter tree and realizing it would bloom again in season. That insight helped shape the quiet, steady faith he became known for. After leaving military life and later working as a valet, he entered the Carmelites in Paris, where he took the name Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.

He is remembered most for the teachings collected after his death in The Practice of the Presence of God. In conversations and letters, he encouraged a life of constant, simple attention to God—even in kitchen work and other routine duties. That down-to-earth spirituality is the reason his writing still feels fresh and approachable today.